TX-SV525 Onkyo Receiver

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! If you have the room for them to run free and loud, keep the 901's in service. Get them a good amplifier because any multichannel receiver can't deal with their special EQ needs and still drive conventional speakers for the other channels properly.

The good news. I have a setup similar to what I think you're trying to do and it works great! Get a receiver that has has 5.1 analog Outputs so you could drive up to 6 external amplifiers if you want to (I drive 4). Then you can draw off the Front L&R to a separate amp for the 901's and the 'other' (lesser) speakers can live on the receiver's native amplifiers.

A separate multi-channel amp for the 901's was my solution. Because I can run each channel independently to an external amp, I run a Carver AV-406 (5-channel amp) for my 901's in Front, 2 Subwoofers (DBX DB-SW 15's) and the Rear Surround channel (Bose 301), with the Active EQ between the receiver Front L&R Outputs and the 901's amp channels. My receiver controls everything and just drives the Center (Kenwood 777's) and Surround speakers (Bose 301's) from its own amps.

You could get by with just a stereo amp for the 901's. A Carver M-200 is a good efficient amplifier that would have you cooking just fine (2x100W). Run it with the Active EQ between the receiver Front L&R Pre-Outputs ** and the 901's amp channels.

** Multi-CH Receiver L&R Audio Out ***) >>> Bose EQ Amplifer IN, then
Bose EQ Amplier OUT >>> new amplifier IN.

Attach the 901's to the new amp, set its volume to Max and run through your receiver's speaker level setup.

Any modern AV Receiver with the pre-requisite analog outputs should work. Since you have to buy a power amp for your 901 front channels anyway the receiver need not be a powerhouse. Look for features and lots of connections for digital and analog devices. I lean toward coaxial digital connectors because A) they take standard >> and cheap << audio cables; and B) they can be shared with Y-connectors if you're careful to have only one digital device turned on at a time. Optical SP/DIF is an expensive farce to get into your wallet.

For DVD/Cable Box/Blu-Ray look for multiple HDMI or component connections. Again, length and cable cost made me look at the component connections vs HDMI and I was pleased that I can't see the difference even with HD programming from my cable box. It's all great.